"The Fallout"

By darthelwig

*** I own nothing. I'm just having fun. ***

Bucky is left feeling more like himself than he has in longer than he can remember. Which isn't really saying much, he knows, but it's more than he had a few weeks ago. It's funny how life changes so suddenly. One day you're Bucky Barnes, ladies man and soldier, and the next thing you know you're the Asset, with no name and no purpose but to serve.

He both loathes and loves what he is in this moment. Loathes because he feels the weight of his guilt crushing him, hears the sounds of every scream and every bullet. He sees what has been done to the people who supported this mission, and he knows he is the reason why.

Yet he loves being this man right now because he has a choice, he is free to make a choice, and he chooses to neutralize his own threat. It pleases him that he can do this. He hasn't been able to set his own path without fear since before he Fell. He hid, and wrestled with his own thoughts, and tried to become a whole person again, but now he feels, if not whole, maybe more complete, and he can smile.

And he smiles as he chooses the ice.

Rhodes is left with pain, fatigue, and an overwhelming sense of loss. He is afraid of what he will become without the War Machine. He has only ever been a soldier, and isn't sure he can be anything else. He doesn't want to be stuck behind a desk, or relegated to the background, but he also doesn't want to be left without a place in the fold. Options for him are limited at this time, though, and he prays Tony can help.

He is thankful for his friend, never more so than now, as Tony brings the full force of his genius to bear on the problem of helping him be functional again. He is already relearning how to walk, with the aid of Tony's technology, and he tells himself not to hope that one day he can be the War Machine once more, but deep inside his heart, he can't help but hope.

It's the hope that keeps him going.

Scott ends up with regret. He misses his daughter so much. Even though his time with her had been fairly limited, at least there had been some. Now he isn't even sure if he will ever see her again, and he wonders if she will understand. She's a sweet girl, and she loves her daddy, but his choice to leave her behind to fight a battle that didn't concern him seems selfish.

It didn't at the time. At the time, he only knew that Captain America needed him to help fight a serious threat to the world, and he would take on anything that threatened the world his Cassie lived in. Anything. He wanted to be a hero, her hero, to live up to the absolute trust and pride he saw in her eyes every time she looked up at him.

Her daddy can take on the world. He just didn't think of the cost at the time. Ending up in prison is one thing. Ending up in some mega-prison in the middle of the ocean is entirely another. And being on the run from the entire world after breaking out of said prison is hell.

He knows he did the right thing, but he still regrets it. Sometimes the right thing is the wrong thing, if it costs you your world.

Peter remains a bit star struck, and hopes that this means the Tony Stark is going to take an interest in his life. He never even hoped to meet the man, his idol, and now that he has, he isn't disappointed. He only hopes he hasn't disappointed Mr. Stark. He knows he could've or should've somehow done more, done better, during the fight at the airport. Being invited into this world of superheroes and gods is a game changer for him, and he wants it so badly.

He wishes he could share this with his Aunt, and make her proud. He also sorta wishes Mr. Stark would stop mentioning how hot she is. It's enough to make him a bit uncomfortable, but how do you say that to a man like him? You don't.

So he doesn't complain, and he lets Mr. Stark's somewhat dismissive attitude roll off his back as much as he can. He will prove himself to this man. He's not a kid. He's Spider-Man, and he's just as good as any of them. All he needs is a chance. He hopes this is his.

Sam is left feeling frustrated. There were never any super soldiers going to be released into the world, only a grief-stricken madman bent on destroying them, and damn if he didn't accomplish just that. The Avengers, his team, are split right down the middle, and there seems to be no way to repair the damage that was done.

He tries not to place blame for it all, but it's hard. Tony's arrogant belief that he knows what's best for everyone gets old real fast, especially when he's shoving the government line down your throat. A government line he himself argued against before, when they tried to take control of the Iron Man suits. Tony had to know this wasn't gonna end well.

But as much as he may love the guy, Steve made mistakes too. Sam thinks Steve lost sight of the goal of stopping Zemo somewhere along the line, and instead it became about saving Bucky Barnes. Steve would do anything for that guy, including lie to a friend about the deaths of his parents. A lie of omission is still a lie, and the only reason to do it was to protect Bucky from Tony. Sam is still trying to wrap his head around that. He would never have done the same thing.

Steve's actions have left him a bit shaken, his faith in the man not as complete as it once was. Doubt about Steve's motivations has crept in, and Sam hates it, but can't help it. None of this feels worth it anymore.

T'Challa finds in himself a new purpose. He never thought he could be the ruler his father had been, but now he realizes that maybe he doesn't have to be in order to still be a good king. He has learned much about himself since his father's death. He knows he is vengeful and willing to throw away the law to achieve that goal, and he knows he is able to overcome his desire for revenge, and that makes him proud.

He has always considered himself a strong man, but now maybe he is a fair man as well, one capable of admitting his mistakes and taking responsibility for fixing them. He will help Barnes. It is a good first step.

Clint is left to worry about his family. He never meant to abandon them for this long, and he hopes they are safe. Guilt and anxiety gnaw at his gut, and it's a wonder he doesn't have an ulcer yet.

Anger at Tony for revealing the existence of his family during his visit to the Raft still burns in his chest, and he knows that if he were to see Tony right now, he would kill the man. He trusted Tony with the secret of his family, and he betrayed him. Clint can't forgive that. It was the worst sort of betrayal. He may have broken the law, but his family is innocent, and now they're in danger and he can't help them. The helplessness of it makes him rage inside. He hides it, but he knows his friends can tell. He is not the same man he was.

He doesn't even care to be. He's no longer an Avenger. Now he is vengeance.

Vision is left lonely and guilt ridden. He does not understand how he could've made such a horrible mistake and injured Colonel Rhodes so badly. Or rather, he doesn't wish to acknowledge it. Perhaps if he ignores what he is feeling it will go away, and he will be safe to enter battle again. As it is, he doubts his own abilities. He cannot afford to be distracted. Not now, not ever.

He misses her, though, every second of every day, and that is becoming harder and harder to ignore. He cannot erase her face from his mind, nor her warmth from his heart. He can ignore his feelings for her, but not the effects they are having on him.

He wonders if perhaps there is something wrong with him, but decides that he is simply experiencing what it is to be human, and there is nothing simple about it.

Natasha is left wondering where it all went wrong. They were a family, her family, the first she could really remember having, and it hurts more than she cares to admit for her to lose it.

She believes she did the right thing by letting Cap go at the airport. The fighting needed to stop before someone got killed, but now she is on her own. Tony wants nothing to do with her, and Steve is gone. She's lost everything that mattered because she couldn't stick to one side or the other, and she wonders if Tony was right. Maybe betrayal is too ingrained in her nature.

Still, she can't help but believe she did the right thing. For her, this was never about bending to the government's will, or stopping Steve from breaking the law, or any of those things. This was about keeping the family together. She would've done anything for that.

It's just too bad it seems like she's the only one that mattered to, and that hurts worse than anything else.

Wanda is left jaded and cynical, perhaps even more so than before she joined the Avengers. First kept in the dark and confined like a child, then bound and caged like a psychopath, she doubts she will be able to bring herself to trust again.

She is tired of fear, her own and that of others. Her worst fears have come to pass already, but she knows that life can always bring more pain. She wonders what else she has to lose.

Tony is left asking himself why he bothers to pick up the pieces. Over and over his life falls apart. He loses the people he loves, finds only pain waiting for him, and yet he keeps trying to save everyone. He doesn't understand why he can't just find it in himself to give up.

He wants to give up on Steve, wants to, but can't. They've been friends too long, if you could call them friends at all, always at odds with each other. That's what made them work, though. They balanced each other and the Avengers.

Can he forgive Steve? He's trying. He wants to, but Steve will always protect Barnes and he will never be able to forgive the man. He can't get the images and sounds from that video out of his head. If he could forget, maybe he could forgive, but he can't and he won't.

Tony feels more alone than ever, and debates taking a drink.

Steve feels the pressure of his responsibilities weighing him down. He's failed Bucky, who has gone back into cryo. Bucky had a life before all this happened, and now he's back where he started. The Avengers have been torn apart, and half the team ended up in a maximum security prison. Wanda hasn't been the same since. His shield is gone. Captain America is history. Where does he go from here?

He has hope that Tony will call when he needs them, even after everything that's happened. There's that. Until then, maybe it's time to put Captain America aside and see what Steve Rogers has to offer the world. It feels liberating. It's the only thing that does.

He doesn't want to let anyone else down. He's caused enough problems. It's time to start making things right. Maybe it's time to find out if he really can live without a war.